Absolutely no seal oil is permitted in the vehicle, or an extra charge of up to $200 may apply. —Car rental agreement, Nome FRIDAY WE PICK UP Peggy Fagerstrom, who describes herself as “our trusty Native guide” to everyone she introduces us to, to the great hilarity of all, and we drive east down the…
Where the river is windin’ Big nuggets they’re findin’. North to Alaska, They’re goin’ North, the rush is on. —Johnny Horton, “North to Alaska” IT STILL IS. In the spring of 2003, a Nome miner found a nugget the size of a man’s clenched fist worth $75,000. Nome sits on the southern coast of the…
I wanted the gold and I sought it, I scrabbled and mucked like a slave. —Robert Service MY GRANDMOTHER GAVE ME a copy of Robert Service’s The Spell of the Yukon when I was ten years old. He is better known for Sam McGee and Dan McGrew but I loved the title poem best, with its…
Read more Dad said it was a wet, dirty, dangerous job for which nobody ever paid him enough money.